Time and Time Again
by mbueno
Summary: Stuck in the future again Tsuna wishes he'd only have to deal with murderous megalomaniacs. Now he just wishes that the people would stop telling him what his future is going to be like. What is this 'Tsunayoshi-time' anyway? all27
1. Forward

A/N: So… Started writing this ages ago and don't really know where this is going but that's the same with all my fics. Obviously that means I started writing this before the TYL arc had finished which is why some things might be a bit off. Fixed some things but there are probably some inconstancies left. Also, let's assume that the arcobaleno curse has been broken TYL and Reborn is in his adult form (Why? Because.). Timeline wise this would be AU after the TYL arc.

Pairings: the ever so popular all/Tsuna (with some exceptions)  
Warnings: bad spelling/grammar, OOC, general oddness, Mukuro  
Word count: 10 846  
Disclaimer: not mine

Summary: Stuck in the future again Tsuna wishes he'd only have to deal with murderous megalomaniacs. Now he just wishes that the people would stop telling him what his future is going to be like. What is this 'Tsunayoshi-time' anyway?

-Time and Time Again—

Chapter 1: Forward

The day had started as usual. This was not the reassuring thought it was to many people since the days in the Sawada household were far from _normal_. 'Usual' in this case meant being woken up by a baby who was also the best hitman in the world. Not a day went by that Tsuna whished that he could go back to the days when he was just his useless self and not the next in line to be the leader of a notorious mafia family. Not all of it was bad; he had to admit as he brushed his teeth. He did have friends these days, friends that weren't trying to take advantage of him (unless it was Reborn). Though, he did wish that Gokudera-kun would be a little more careful with his explosives.

That morning Tsuna had been woken up by Reborn as usual and when he'd exited the bathroom, more or less ready for another day in school, when Lambo had decided to make one of his useless attacks on Reborn. Tsuna still found it hard to accept that the hyperactive child would grow up to be the languid man from the future. As usual the attack failed miserably and the child was left crying loudly and pulling out his bazooka. Unfortunately for Tsuna he was the one to get hit with it instead of Reborn or even Lambo. Being well acquainted with the effects of the ten-year-bazooka Tsuna just closed his eyes and waited for the worst to happen.

That was how he found himself probably ten years in the future _again_. When he finally gathered enough courage to open his eyes he saw that he was sitting in a car. He blinked slowly and waited for his brain to catch up with the recent events. If he was sitting in a car that meant that his future self was… alive? He couldn't really think of any reason why someone would want to transport his lifeless corpse around like this so that must be it. It was a relief to know that he wasn't dead anymore but a little unsettling. The battle they'd undergone in the future had been damage control. The result of the battle wasn't to change the future that had already happened, including the 'death' of the future tenth boss of Vongola. But if he truly was alive then that meant that they'd also changed something in the present and thus changed the future which meant that the battle had never happened and… Tsuna grasped his head. It was far too complicated to think about the future. He knew he wasn't smart so he'd just leave the complicated thinking to other people. He wasn't particularly interested in knowing his future so he decided that the best course of action would be to just sit where he was and wait until the five minutes had passed and go back to his own time. The less he knew the better.

Time seemed to flow slowly when he wanted it to go fast and the five minutes seemed to last forever. Half an hour later he had to admit that maybe there was something wrong with the bazooka and he was stuck in the future again. He sighed and tried to not panic. The jolly jingle of a cell phone nearly gave him a heart attack and sent him scrambling to look for the source of the sound. He found the phone on the floor of the car where his future self had probably dropped it. Looking at the caller id he was surprised to see it read 'Spanner'. So he did know the mechanic in this future as well? Well enough to have given him his personal cell phone number it seemed. Somehow, it was a reassuring thought. Tsuna felt he owed the mechanic for much and he really liked him too. When compared to his other 'family' members he was almost sane.

He didn't answer the phone, however, because he didn't know what he would say to the man. It was best to just avoid doing anything that might get him into trouble. It couldn't take long for the others back in the past to figure out how to get him back, right? He nodded to himself and nearly dropped the phone when it started to ring again. He fumbled until he managed to get a proper grip of it again and looked at the caller. He went pale when he read the name on the display and wondered if maybe he was going to suffer in the future if he didn't answer this call. Hibari-san wasn't easy to deal with whether he was the past or the future version. After an agonizing moment of indecision he ended the call reasoning that his older self was probably capable of dealing with Hibari-san better. He would, after all, have ten years of experience doing just that.

He sighed and hoped that no one else would call and that he'd be able to go back soon. Just when he was beginning to think that maybe he should get out of the car and look for Reborn or someone who might be able to help him the driver's door opened and someone came into the car.

"That dog of yours really needs a leash," muttered the man who'd just gotten in. "Or at least you should teach him where his place is."

Tsuna was frozen half from surprise and half from absolute horror. He'd recognized the voice and presence of the other man immediately and wished he hadn't. The man hadn't looked at him yet and Tsuna began to pray that he'd go back to his own time before he did. There was no way that he wanted to be in a small enclosed space with this man.

"What's wrong?" the man said turning and looking at him. "You're…"

"Mu-mukuro," Tsuna stuttered and pressed against the car door in a desperate attempt to get further away from his mist guardian. If he'd been able to move he would've opened the door and made a run for it, but he was still frozen to the spot.

The man looked at him surprised for a moment before sighing and shaking his head. "The damned bazooka again," he muttered.

Tsuna was slowly beginning to relax. It didn't look like Mukuro was going to attack him anytime soon. He wondered just what kind of relationship did his future self have with his mist guardian. He really really hoped that the Mukuro of this era wouldn't figure out that now would be a perfect time for him to possess his body since it was obvious Tsuna had no way to fight back without Reborn or his pills.

"You don't have to look so frightened, you know," Mukuro said a touch of amusement in his voice. "Though, it's been a long time since I've seen that expression on your face." He leaned closer with a predatory look on his face that Tsuna remembered all too well from his encounters with him. "I can't say it's all that bad a look on you, Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna squeaked and tried to press further into the door and away from the dangerous person who was supposed to be a part of his family. He couldn't decide if he was more terrified of Hibari-san or Mukuro, which was kind of sad because weren't the two supposed to protect him? It was pathetic that he was more afraid of people on his side than most of his enemies.

"Let's see… you must be fifteen and I see you have the whole ring," Mukuro said lifting the ring that was always resting against Tsuna's chest in its chain. "You're still not wearing it, though, but that'll be a few years later."

"Um… You're not… going to…" Tsuna managed to say.

"Possess your body, young Vongola?" Mukuro asked. He laughed a little and Tsuna shivered. Did Mukuro know how to laugh in a way that _wasn't_ disturbing? "No. It would be no use to possess your body at this time."

To Tsuna's relief the man pulled away from him and gave him room to breathe again.

"How long as it been since you appeared here?" Mukuro asked and busied himself with starting the car's engine.

"I… I don't know," Tsuna answered helplessly. It felt like a long time. Much longer than five minutes, that was for certain.

"Longer than the allotted time, I am certain," Mukuro muttered and pulled out of the parking space. "I suppose that means that tonight's plans are cancelled and I should take you to see Reborn." The mist guardian spared him a glance. "And I'd been looking forward to it so much, too," he said sighing mockingly.

"Um… What were your plans? I'm sorry for disturbing them but maybe you can still go after you drop me off?" Tsuna suggested weakly, wondering where Mukuro was taking them.

The view from the car window suggested that they weren't in Japan and Tsuna was sure that they were in Italy. He couldn't help but be fascinated by the scenery. The last time he'd been here he hadn't exactly had the time to take in the view.

"Ah, but the point was that I had plans with _Tsunayoshi_," Mukuro said.

Tsuna had always thought that the way Mukuro said his name was nearly illegal. People rarely used his full name so it was, oddly enough, more intimate whenever someone did use it. He shivered.

"Mafia business?" he asked hoping fervently that it was.

Mukuro grinned his Cheshire cat grin. "Personal," he said happily. "Very personal."

"You're saying that just to creep me out, aren't you?" Tsuna asked suspiciously.

Mukuro laughed again. "You wound me, Tsunayoshi," he said.

Tsuna wondered just when had Mukuro dropped the –kun from the end of his name. Using only his name was, once again, a show of greater intimacy that he wasn't entirely comfortable with. But, then again, _he_ never used an honorific with Mukuro's name either so he guessed it was only fair.

"So you're taking me to Reborn?" Tsuna asked when the silence started to become oppressing.

"As much as I hate to see that man, yes," Mukuro said. "Perhaps he knows something that can fix this situation and I can have my special Tsunayoshi-time after all."

Tsunayoshi-time? Tsuna wondered if this was something Mukuro had made up or something official. Were his other guardians also guaranteed their Tsuna-time? What did that time include anyway? He was absolutely certain that he didn't want to spend any alone time with either Mukuro or Hibari-san. Any time with the latter one would almost certainly include him biting someone (most likely Tsuna) to death.

"Not that I wouldn't mind doing this and that to the younger Tsunayoshi but I'd never hear the end of it," the mist guardian said conversationally. "The bird would undoubtedly try to kill me for it, I'm sure. But, then again, so would the rest of the doggies."

"You're… talking about my guardians?" Tsuna wanted to confirm this. He couldn't imagine Hibari-san caring about what happened to him as long as he didn't die and would be able to fight the cloud guardian. Hibari-san's list of interests was pretty short and Tsuna was certain his wellbeing wasn't on it. Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto… well they could be quite protective (in Gokudera-kun's case _too_ protective) so that was no surprise. Onii-san was unpredictable at best but would probably protect Tsuna. Lambo… he'd be fifteen now wouldn't he? 'Adult' Lambo…

"Who else? A bunch of yapping dogs if I've ever seen any," Mukuro scoffed.

There were many questions Tsuna wanted to ask but knew better than to do so. He still didn't want to know anything about the future since it might not even be _his_ future. His conversations with adult Lambo had made that much clear. So he sat in silence peeking looks at Mukuro from the corner of his eye. He wondered if Mukuro's real body was still in that dark place or if his future self had somehow managed to do something about it. He hoped he had because that was something he'd decided. No one should be bound like that and isolated from everything… not even Mukuro. Though, what would happen to Chrome if Mukuro were to get his own body back? She was as much his mist guardian as Mukuro was which people tended to forget.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence as Tsuna tried to work his mind around his current predicament. He was startled when the phone he'd been holding started to ring again. This time he didn't even manage to read the caller ID before the phone was snatched from his hands and Mukuro answered it like it was his phone.

"What do you want?" he said and Tsuna tried to strain his hearing.

"I think you can survive without him for a couple of hours or are you really that incompetent."

Tsuna hazarded a guess that it was Gokudera-kun on the other end this time.

"Unfortunately no, I'm not defiling him right now."

Tsuna's eyes were wide now and he was staring at Mukuro. _What?_

"Besides should that come from your mouth when I know exactly what goes on in your mind when you're with your precious Tenth."

_What?_

"You'll get him tomorrow," Mukuro said and then ended the call and tossed the phone back to Tsuna. "Just something you should remember when you get back to your time," he said with a friendly enough voice though Tsuna was sure there was a tick in his eye. "Don't give the dog any hope and teach him how to 'sit' and 'stay' and preferably how to play dead permanently."

"Go-gokudera-kun?" Tsuna asked feeling more and more confused by the moment.

"Yes. That," Mukuro said pulling the car to a stop and opening the door.

Tsuna clambered out of the vehicle still clutching the phone like a lifeline. It wasn't like he could do anything but follow Mukuro and he hadn't exactly been acting threateningly. There were the moments of uncomfortable sexual innuendo but Tsuna was very hard trying to not think about that. He was beginning to fear that there would be no Kyoko-chan for him in the future, or at least not the way he'd hoped. Even Haru would've been nice but now it'd been implied that… that… Mukuro and Gokudera-kun? He wanted to cry.

"What's this place?" he asked instead.

"It's your office," Mukuro said. "The arcobaleno has most likely already heard about you so he should turn up soon. However, if he doesn't I think I'll just have to have my Tsunayoshi-time with then younger you."

"Um… Could you please stop saying that? It's really freaking me out," Tsuna pleaded as he followed the significantly taller man into the building.

The grin on Mukuro's face only made Tsuna more frightened.

"You're doing it on purpose aren't you," Tsuna accused his guardian knowing that this time he was right.

"Maybe I am, but only because Tsunayoshi is so adorable right now. You're blushing," Mukuro said leaning down and bringing his face too close to Tsuna's. Then, to Tsuna's horror the older man pressed his mouth against Tsuna's in a chaste but definite kiss. Tsuna could feel his face burning and he was frozen in a moment of absolute horror.

"Don't look like that or I'll eat you up," Mukuro said as he pulled away. "Now come on inside."

Tsuna was still rooted to the spot. "Th-that was… You! You took my first kiss," Tsuna managed to say.

And he'd been saving himself for Kyoko-chan, he thought, not that there'd been anyone to save himself from before. If it had to be someone male, why did it have to be _Mukuro_ of all people? Why not someone like… Yamamoto? He could handle Yamamoto, probably, because it was hard to imagine the boy –man now– interested in Tsuna like that. Then again, he hadn't realized that any of his guardians were interested in him like _that_. This really had to be a cruel joke…

"Oh?" Mukuro looked positively delighted. "Imagine that. The bird hasn't gotten to you yet then? Now this is a fortunate turn of events."

Bird? Did he mean… Tsuna couldn't even finish the thought because it was just absurd and… and something you just didn't imagine. Ever. For fear of being bitten to death or worse.

"From what I gather he was rather merciless, too, on your first time. That man just doesn't have any manners at all," Mukuro said obviously enjoying torturing Tsuna with way too much information. "Personally I always thought that the puppy would crack first since I was otherwise inconvenienced."

"I would really prefer if you stopped speaking now," Tsuna said slowly doing his best to shut out the thoughts that were screaming for his attention.

'_Hibari-san! Mukuro said that I did… did that with HIBARI-SAN!_' the suppressed thoughts screamed. '_And with him, too, and with Gokudera-kun._' Though, maybe not Gokudera-kun since Mukuro had only implied that the bomber wanted to… to… No. He wasn't going to go further than that. There were just some things that ought not to be thought. Mukuro must've been lying. Yes. Obviously. The Hibari-san of this era would've said something if that were true, right? _'But this is obviously a changed future_,' his traitorous mind piped in before being brutally silenced again. Why was he even thinking something like this? This was obviously some bizarre future and everything would be different when he finally arrived to the future in the normal way i.e. by ageing.

"I was actually thinking that maybe I should give you some sort of message to take back to my young self," Mukuro said ushering Tsuna inside and touching his behind in an inappropriate way in the process. Tsuna felt thoroughly violated. He was pushed forward through grand hallways and into an even grander office where every piece of furniture seemed to be at least half a century old. Not that Tsuna was a very good judge of that.

"The arcobaleno should be here soon but maybe I could entertain you while we wait," Mukuro said.

"No that's quite-" Tsuna began but he was already sitting on the illusionist's lap and the arms that had found their way around his waist weren't budging.

"It's no trouble I assure you," Mukuro said. "It's been a while since you were this small. It's actually pretty handy to have a smaller Tsunayoshi. Compact travel size."

Tsuna perked up despite the uncomfortable situation. He was going to get bigger? He couldn't wait! He was tired of being the shortest guy in his extended family (excluding Lambo and Reborn, of course). Though, he doubted he'd be as tall as Mukuro… but he'd always been freakishly tall anyway and therefore didn't really count. Now that he thought about it even Fuuta had grown a lot in ten years so why wouldn't he? His elation didn't last long, however, when he felt something nip at his neck in a not entirely unpleasant way. He squeaked and tried to squirm around so that he could stop any further attempts of molestation.

"Mukuro!" he said knowing that he was probably beet red.

"What, Tsunayoshi?" the man asked with the most unbelievable innocent look on his face. "You like that. Or should I say you will like that."

Tsuna buried his face in his hands. Why was his life so horrible? And Reborn wasn't even here yet which meant that potentially _things could still get worse_. He was shocked out of his bout of self-pity when he felt large hands slide down his back and settle on his behind with confident familiarity. He then realized that maybe it hadn't been a good idea to turn around while still in Mukuro's lap. That meant that he was now straddling the illusionist's legs and the said man now had access to his rear… which he'd just squeezed shamelessly.

"Mukuro!" Tsuna yelled embarrassed and tried to pull his hands away from where they were.

His efforts were in vain and then he was distracted when he was kissed again. This time it was not an innocent kiss by any stretch of mind. Mukuro certainly knew what he was doing and Tsuna was thrown so off balance that he opened his mouth when he felt the other's tongue ask for entrance. He wasn't certain how long the kiss lasted and all he could remember afterwards was that it felt horribly weird and yet not entirely unpleasant to have someone else's tongue in your mouth. For some reason it felt like the temperature had risen significantly in the last few minutes.

"Oya, it seems like that really was your first proper kiss, Tsunayoshi. Perhaps we should continue with the other firsts while we're at it," Mukuro said grinning in an entirely too satisfied way. The gloved hands slid up from their previous resting place and slipped under Tsuna's hoodie.

"No!" Tsuna said quickly and braced his hands against Mukuro's chest in an attempt to get as far away from the illusionist as possible. "I… I'm sure Reborn wouldn't want to walk in on something like that."

Mukuro gave him a puzzled look. "Why hasn't he stopped me yet, then?" he asked and looked at something behind Tsuna. "What do you say?"

"As amusing as it is to watch him squirm maybe it is best if you stop there," said someone.

The voice was horribly familiar though it had changed over the years. Tsuna craned his neck so that he could see Reborn who was sitting calmly on top of the table and watching them with his black eyes.

"What have you done now, No good Tsuna?" the hitman asked.

"It's not my fault!" Tsuna protested trying to keep Mukuro's hands from dipping into his pants while he was talking to Reborn. Didn't the man have any sense of decorum? "I was hit with the bazooka and ended up here. I haven't gone back yet so something's probably wrong. Mukuro said you might know how I can go back." He said the last part with undisguised hope in his voice.

The Mafioso shrugged carelessly. "The problem isn't at our end of the time so you'll just have to wait for the people ten years ago to fix the situation. It shouldn't take longer than a couple of days at the most."

"A couple of days!" Tsuna shouted forgetting to fight against Mukuro for a while and thus allowing him to slip his hands down the back of his pants. To his utter shame his body betrayed him by letting out a small hitched breath when he was pulled flush against the older man.

"Would you stop that already?" he managed to say as he pushed his body further away from Mukuro's again. "Reborn."

He turned his head again to look pleadingly at his teacher but the boy was apparently much more interested in cleaning out a gun than helping his helpless student. Tsuna had to admit that that wasn't exactly surprising since he was sure Reborn got some sort of morbid satisfaction watching him suffer. Why oh why did he have to suffer like this?

"I'll just take care of him until he goes back," Mukuro said happily finally pulling his hands out of Tsuna's pants and patting the behind he'd just thoroughly molested.

"You're going on a mission tomorrow," Reborn said calmly checking that the cartridge was full before snapping it back in its place. "I let the others know of the situation. Gokudera is probably on his way here as we speak and Yamamoto said he's coming tomorrow. There's been no word of Hibari but I doubt he'll stay away when he hears of this development."

Mukuro frowned and Tsuna was secretly elated. He wouldn't have to be alone with Mukuro! He was saved! He was… At that point the suppressed memories crept back again and reminded that Mukuro had told him something important about Hibari-san and Gokudera-kun. He was going to die… He wasn't sure if it'd be death by Hibari or death by being mortally embarrassed. Though, he was certain (mostly) that Mukuro had just said _that_ about Hibari-san because he liked to see Tsuna squirm he knew that the moment he saw his cloud guardian he'd go bright red and then refuse to look at the other at all. He was certain that should he make eye contact with Hibari-san the man would somehow be able to read what was going on in his mind and then he'd bite him to death. That was really the only plausible scenario he could think of.

Apparently his mist guardian was just as capable at mind reading. "Don't worry, Tsunayoshi, I'll protect you from the birdie," he said in a not-so-reassuring voice. In fact, he sounded pretty damn gleeful which didn't bode well for poor Tsuna. "Perhaps I should make some precautions before he gets here."

Tsuna was just about to ask what these 'precautions' were when he felt lips on his neck again. He tried to move away but Mukuro's grip on him wasn't yielding so he just had to wait until the illusionist had done what he wanted to. To his complete and utter horror and embarrassment Reborn was still sitting there, watching them with a bored expression on his face. Even Leon was watching them from his perch on the hitman's hat and that was somehow even _worse_. There was a final bite and then the lips were removed and Tsuna just knew that Mukuro was admiring his work. It didn't take a genius to know just what the illusionist had done to his neck. He just hoped that the bruise would fade before he got back to his own time. He could imagine Gokudera-kun's reaction to it all too well.

"Tenth!"

It was amazing really, Tsuna thought, how thinking of someone you didn't want to see immediately summoned them to you. Currently it meant that Gokudera-kun had just crashed through the office door with dynamites in hand and Uri on his shoulder. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence as everyone in the room waited to see what'd happen next.

"Er… Hi," Tsuna finally said and gave a small wave to Gokudera-san.

He really wished he could move out of Mukuro's lap right now. Gokudera-san's expression was darkening and the box animal was hissing.

"What are you doing to the Tenth?" the bomber asked Mukuro who didn't seem the least bit intimidated by him.

"I'm enjoying my Tsunayoshi-time, of course. Just because the situation has changed a little doesn't mean I'm going to give it up," he answered calmly. "You'll have to wait your time like a good little doggie."

"More importantly," Reborn said drawing the attention of the other three, "We will have to make sure that no one outside Tsuna's immediate family learns of his condition. All of his appointments have to be cancelled for the next two days and he must not be seen by anyone who might recognize him as the younger version."

That did make sense. If he had any enemies, which he was sure he did because he was a mob-boss, they wouldn't hesitate to strike if they thought he was weak. He wasn't weak, not after all he'd had to go through in the not-this-future but he still didn't have his gloves or his boxes so he was a bit vulnerable.

"Should anything of the sort happen, it's the guardians' duty to keep him safe. Especially since he has no heir yet and he's the only person with Vongola blood left," Reborn finished.

At the mention of 'heir' Tsuna blushed, Mukuro frowned and Gokudera-kun scowled. The thought had crossed Tsuna's mind back when he'd first come to the future. He'd just thought that if his future self really was dead he'd probably left no one who would be able to take his place. But then there had been all the excitement with the Millefiore and he'd quickly forgotten ever thinking about it. Now he was strongly beginning to suspect that should he ever touch a woman that way Mukuro would happily murder her. And, if this really was some bizarre world and Hibari-san… well… then his cloud guardian would probably kill _Tsuna_.

"Um…" he said again. "Can I have a word with Reborn?" he asked timidly not certain he wanted to be alone with the hitman. "In private?`"

He expected Mukuro's immediate 'no' and the tightening of the hold the illusionist had on him but he knew Gokudera-kun wouldn't disobey his request. Not that the bomber looked happy about the request but that didn't matter as long as he did what was asked of him. It sounded cold-hearted but Tsuna and Gokudera-kun both knew that Tsuna would never abuse that power.

"Mukuro, please?" Tsuna pleaded giving the illusionist the best begging look he could. Mukuro didn't look like he was swayed by the look but after one glance at Reborn the arms loosened enough that Tsuna could slip away from his guardian's lap. "Thank you."

Mukuro didn't look happy but he got up and walked to the door. "I'll wait outside," he said walking out. Gokudera-kun shot a concerned look toward Tsuna but he, too, walked out of the room and pulled the door closed behind him.

"Um… Are you sure there's nothing that can be done here to send me back?" he asked without much hope.

"No. I'd have said so if there were," the hitman answered.

Tsuna bit his lip. This wasn't good at all. He wondered what his future self was doing in the past and how the others would react to him.

"So… What should I do?" he asked hoping that the answer wouldn't include spending time with any of his guardians. "Mukuro was kidding, right? About the things he said."

Reborn smiled and Tsuna shivered in fear. "It would seem that you attract a certain type of people to you, no-good Tsuna," the hitman said. "The fact that you seem weak and yet are strong enough to beat them to a pulp should you wish to do so seems to be irresistible."

"So it's just that," Tsuna said laughing nervously. "They're just curious." And absolutely crazy, he thought privately.

"Don't be stupid, no-good Tsuna," Reborn said pointing the gun he still held towards him. "Gokudera probably will not do anything to you but Rokudo Mukuro and Hibari Kyouya will not hesitate to take you even by force. Those two thrive on the feeling of dominating someone like you even if they know it's only because you let them."

Tsuna wanted to cry again. "And I just let them….?" he asked wondering if he should leave a message for his future self about it.

Reborn shrugged. "It's that or have them tear down everything within five mile radius. Should you choose one of them the other wouldn't give up and if you chose neither or someone else they still wouldn't stop. You decided that this was the best for your family. Hence the Tsunayoshi-time that Mukuro mentioned. Every guardian is guaranteed time alone with you if they wish to use it."

"Every…" Tsuna said horrified.

"Not everyone uses it the same way as those two do," Reborn said. "Sasagawa Ryohei has no interest in you sexually and neither has that stupid cow."

Tsuna knew he was burning red _again_ and almost wished he hadn't asked but he needed to know if he was to survive this era. He had noticed that even if Onii-san and Lambo weren't… weird… the rest hadn't been excluded. "Even Yamamoto?" he asked.

"Him and Dino and Spanner and some of the Varia, though they won't admit it," Reborn said shrugging. "I believe you're the most popular boss in that regard."

'_But I don't want to be!' _Tsuna wailed in his head. What a horrible future this was. He almost preferred the one where he was 'dead' to this.

"I suggest you try to keep them off so that you won't upset the timeline too much. The Hibari of your time is supposed to be your first," Reborn said without a shred of sympathy.

"That's… that's really not helping me at all," Tsuna pointed out voice quivering.

"Think of it as training for your future," Reborn said. "You'll have to learn to keep them away someday."

Since there was no way of escaping without Mukuro stopping him Tsuna decided that the best way to proceed was to boldly step out of the office and into the clutches of his two guardians. He didn't know if they'd eavesdropped on his conversation with Reborn but that didn't really matter. The second he stepped outside he was, once again, embraced by Mukuro probably so that he wouldn't have a chance to run. Gokudera-kun glowered at the illusionist and Tsuna wondered if he'd have to dodge dynamite soon.

"What do you think you're doing to him?" the gray-haired guardian asked blowing a cloud of smoke towards the mist guardian.

"I wouldn't imagine why you even need to ask that," Mukuro said and even though Tsuna's back was to him he knew that he was smiling… creepily. (Tsuna was fairly certain now that was, in fact, the only way Mukuro knew how to smile.)

Gokudera frowned. "You'd better not do anything of that kind," he said finally.

"We have a deal."

"Not with this Tsuna," Gokudera-san said pointedly.

Tsuna was a little thrown off by this future Gokudera. He didn't often hear Gokudera-san use his name –given or nickname- and though he knew that the other boy was smart he didn't usually show it when it came to protecting his Tenth.

"I don't see what's the difference. It's just a couple of years," Mukuro said flippantly but Tsuna knew that the man was thinking about what Gokudera-san has said.

"He's _fifteen_ and you are _twenty six_," Gokudera said his tone leaving no room for argument. "That's eleven years worth of good reasons. I won't allow you to defile the Tenth in such a way when he's like this."

Tsuna wondered if he should say something since this was his body they were discussing, but decided that Gokudera-kun was standing up for him perfectly well for the time being. He didn't want to be there, in this era or in the unshakeable grasp of his mist guardian. He just wanted to get back home where things were, oddly enough, _normal_. At this point he'd take death threats over the threat of losing his virginity. What a horrible mess his life was…

He felt and heard Mukuro sigh and knew that he was granted reprieve. "I wasn't really going to go that far," he said. "But I will still keep him since it's my time."

"I don't exactly trust you with him," Gokudera-kun said flatly and Tsuna agreed wholeheartedly.

"Like it or not, I am also his guardian and that means I've sworn to protect him," Mukuro growled. "And at the moment I am best equipped to guard him."

It took Tsuna a moment to get what his mist guardian meant. He was undoubtedly one of his strongest guardians, on par with Hibari-san, but that wasn't what he meant. The mist guardian's job was to hide and deceive and both would be needed to hide the fact that Tsuna was ten years younger than he should be and therefore vulnerable. He knew that he didn't exactly know what adult Gokudera-kun was like but thinking about his guardians it was true that Mukuro was the best suited for hiding him.

"It's… it's okay, Gokudera-san," Tsuna said knowing that the man wouldn't back up if he didn't say something. "I'll be going back soon anyway."

"Tenth…" Gokudera said.

"I can take care of myself," Tsuna said though he knew he probably couldn't against this Mukuro. He wished he at least had his gloves and pills with him and maybe the contacts too... He still had his Vongola ring and Nutts but he wasn't exactly willing to use them.

"See? I'll take good care of him so you go and do whatever," Mukuro said lifting Tsuna up and pressing a kiss to the corner of his eye. Then, before either Tsuna or Gokudera-kun had a chance to say anything he'd whisked him away.

Tsuna considered struggling again but decided that it was just as useless now as it had been earlier. Besides, as much as he was afraid of the man he couldn't help trusting him, too. Apart from the way they'd originally met Mukuro hadn't tried to hurt him even though he kept saying that he wanted to possess Tsuna's body. He wasn't a kind man but he wasn't absolutely evil either. That didn't make dealing with him any easier, though, but Tsuna didn't expect things to go easy on him anymore.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked instead.

"To my apartment," the man answered without pause.

"Is that really okay?" Tsuna wondered.

They were back at the car now and Tsuna briefly wondered it was his car or Mukuro's. Not like it really mattered but he'd rather think of anything but his current situation. Why had everyone been speaking Japanese? Since they were in Italy and since the only people he'd met here were originally Italian one'd think that they'd speak Italian instead of Japanese. Had he learned to speak Italian in ten years? Somehow he doubted that but maybe he really had. It would be weird if the boss of an important mafia family couldn't even speak the language. It was weird enough that they'd let someone Japanese to be the boss of Vongola. Not that they'd had a lot of choices really…

"Are you trying to escape reality?" Mukuro asked amused.

"Er…" Tsuna said blushing.

"I see I'll have to work harder to get all your attention," Mukuro purred and Tsuna felt a hand on his thigh inching slowly towards his crotch. He pushed the hand away and glared at Mukuro.

"Do you have to do that?" he asked exasperated.

No, but it's fun," the man said shrugging. "Ten years later you're not nearly as easy to rile up."

Another positive thing to wait for, Tsuna thought happily, until he realized that it was most likely because ten years from now he'd be so used to being molested that it wouldn't set him off. It was _not_ a happy thought.

"I really think it'd be better if you didn't tell me anymore about this era," he said as firmly as he could. He doubted it'd make a difference. So far nothing had. Oh how he wished he had his gloves and pills.

"As you wish, boss," his mist guardian said and Tsuna knew that he had no intention of stopping. Just why couldn't he have subordinates like Romario? Of course, Dino-san probably didn't have as many crazy and impossibly strong assassins after his head. Tsuna wished he didn't. He wished that he didn't have one of those impossibly strong assassins as his guardian, though; he had to admit that Mukuro didn't seem all that murderous right at the moment.

"You're ignoring me again," Mukuro said glancing briefly at him with a faked expression of hurt on his face. "I don't remember Tsunayoshi being so mean."

"It's just… a lot to take in," Tsuna said. It was true. "Are we there soon?"

"Yes," Mukuro answered. Then the man frowned. "It's true that I have a mission tomorrow that I cannot delay but you should be safe in my home. Nagi will be there and maybe I should have Chikusa and Ken come over too…"

"I really don't want to trouble you," Tsuna protested feebly.

Nagi? Chrome? If the girl –woman- had a separate existence from Mukuro did that mean that the body the illusionist was using right now was his actual body? Tsuna wished that it was so with a force that surprised even him. He hated seeing people close to him suffer, even though Reborn had told him to not feel sorry for the illusionist. Tsuna couldn't _not_ feel sorry, however, since he couldn't see how anyone would deserve to be imprisoned like Mukuro. He was certain that that way of thinking was something that wouldn't change in ten or twenty years. He knew full well that people like Reborn and Mukuro thought he was far too naïve but that was one thing he didn't want to change.

Mukuro sighed and for once it seemed like he was going to say something seriously. "You're not troubling me _if _you stay put in my apartment and don't get into any trouble while I'm away. It's not a long mission so I should be back before dark."

"Wouldn't it have been better if I'd stayed with Gokudera-kun or Reborn or someone else?" Tsuna asked more out of curiosity than apprehension.

"No," came the immediate tightlipped reply.

Tsuna wondered if it was because of some silly rivalry between his guardians or if it had something to do with the whole innuendo thing. He suspected it had a little to do with both and realized that whatever the deal was with the 'Tsunayoshi-time' it had probably been the easiest solution. At least three of his guardians seemed to be fiercely protective of him in their messed up way but unable to deal with the others at the same time. The only time Tsuna could imagine them working well together was when there was a serious threat against the Vongola, or more specifically Tsuna. It was hard to admit but Tsuna knew that most of his guardians really did take guarding him seriously. Though, he was still fairly certain that Hibari-san was only in it for the fights.

"All right," he sighed and then smiled. "Please take good care of me."

Mukuro didn't look at him but Tsuna saw his hands clench around the steering wheel suddenly and the muscles around his eyes tensed before he relaxed again. He didn't really know what to read into the reaction but decided that the illusionist couldn't be too upset by the words. Then the car pulled to a stop and Tsuna wondered if they were already at their destination. Looking outside it didn't look like it. Then, a hand gripped his chin and turned his head towards the other man and he was kissed for the third time that night. For the third time _ever_, if someone was keeping count. A small part of Tsuna's brain told him that this kiss was different from the previous ones. The first had been chaste, the second very definitely _not_ and this one was desperate.

Tsuna meeped when their mouths were parted briefly so that Mukuro could unbuckle his seatbelt and draw him into his lap again. He half expected to feel hands on his posterior again but it appeared that the illusionist was intent on just kissing him this time. Tsuna didn't have the heart to resist and truthfully he didn't know if he could, at the moment. Once he'd gotten past the initial weirdness of kissing it was quite enjoyable. He'd tried to imagine that it was Kyoko-chan he was kissing instead of his mist guardian, but had given up on that a long time ago. It was hard to keep up the fantasy when he was sitting on the lap of a clearly not-female guardian. During the fourth or possibly fifth kiss he realized that it didn't bother him that much anymore. The strange future was messing with his brain, obviously.

When they finally parted Tsuna knew that he was bright red _again_ and Mukuro was looking at him with an unusually soft expression on his face that Tsuna hadn't thought him capable of. "You're going to be the death of me one day," he just said and deposited Tsuna back on the passenger seat. Tsuna just blinked and wondered what had just happened.

It was… awkward to say the least, Tsuna though as he toed off his shoes and followed Mukuro inside the apparently expensive apartment. They hadn't talked after the incident and Tsuna didn't really know what to say after that anyway. Mukuro seemed content with the silence so he didn't really see a reason to break it.

"You're back early, Mukuro-sama. Wasn't today…" the speaker trailed off as she saw Tsuna half-hiding behind Mukuro.

Tsuna wasn't surprised to see Chrome but he couldn't help wondering what the status of his two mist guardians was now that they didn't share the same body anymore. He'd always felt awkward around Chrome even when she was younger and now it was worse when she was clearly a woman. Apart from his mother and Bianchi, and briefly, Lal Mirch, Tsuna didn't really have much experience with dealing with older women.

"What's this?" she asked leaning down a little and looking at Tsuna with her one eye. "Young boss?"

Mukuro stepped to the side so that Tsuna had nothing to hide behind. "An accident with the cow's bazooka. The acrobaleno says that it might take a day or two for him to go back. We're keeping him safe and hidden until then," he said.

Tsuna noted that Mukuro treated Chrome differently from everyone else. It was obvious that even if they weren't co-dependent anymore their bond was still as strong as ever. It was a reassuring thought. Tsuna wished he could be so certain that he would never be alone.

"Um… I'm sorry to bother you, Chrome-san," he said and bowed.

"It's no trouble," she said and smiled. "You're always looking after Mukuro-sama, after all."

From the corner of his eye Tsuna noticed that Mukuro didn't seem the least bit annoyed at the comment.

"Aren't you going away tomorrow?" she then asked Mukuro.

"Yes," Mukuro answered frowning. "But I shouldn't be out long."

Chrome pursed her lips thoughtfully. "You know there's not much I can do if Hibari shows up," she said and Tsuna winced. He didn't want to put her in danger because of him. It didn't matter if she could hold her own against his vicious guardian because in the end someone would get injured anyway. Hibari-san wasn't in the habit of pulling his punches. He decided that should his cloud guardian turn up for whatever reason he'd go with him without a fight.

"Hopefully I'll get back before he comes here. I'd have asked the arcobaleno to keep this information to himself but there's no way he's going to do that when this is so much more amusing," Mukuro said with acid lacing his last words. It was apparent that the illusionist didn't appreciate Reborn's brand of humour. Admittedly, not many people did.

"Why do you all think that Hibari-san will come?" he asked as he followed his guardians into the kitchen.

Mukuro and Chrome shared a look that Tsuna couldn't understand.

"It's one of those things that are about as inevitable as sunrise," Mukuro finally muttered.

They were all seated around the kitchen table and Tsuna was eating a sandwich Chrome had made for him when the cell phone started to ring again. He'd forgotten he still had it in his pocket so it startled him badly and he answered it without thinking before Mukuro could prevent it.

"Hello?" he said.

There was silence on the other end of the line and Tsuna wondered if he'd maybe pressed the wrong button or something.

"So the arcobaleno was telling the truth," someone finally said and then ended the call.

Tsuna paled when he realized who'd just called. And apparently Hibari-san had heard of his current disposition and had just checked if it was true.

"That was Hibari Kyouya wasn't it," Mukuro said looking grim. "That bastard doesn't waste time."

"If you're that concerned you could always postpone tomorrow's mission," Chrome suggested taking a sip of the coffee she'd made for all of them.

Mukuro shook his head. "Can't," he said frowning. "It's something that can't be delayed."

"Then there's no use thinking about it," Chrome said. "I'll do my best here."

Tsuna wanted to say something along the lines that he didn't need to be this protected, especially from his own guardians but knew better than to say anything. Nothing he said would convince Mukuro anyway and Chrome would agree with her saviour.

"And you," Mukuro said looking at Tsuna with narrowed mismatched eyes. "You're not to just give in and go with him if he happens to turn up."

Tsuna nodded hesitantly, not really feeling confident enough to promise something like that. Even after all the training he did with the future Hibari-san he still wasn't sure how confident he was in his ability to fight against him. Tsuna knew that he was strong enough to _probably_ take Hibari-san on and win, though it'd be a close call, but… Tsuna also knew that if he fought Hibari-san he wouldn't be able to go all out. Reborn would've called it a weakness but Tsuna knew that he would never be able to truly fight anyone of his own family. He wasn't brave or suicidal but he would defend the six (seven, really) people bound to him to death.

Maybe, he thought secretly to himself, that was why they, too, would die for him. That and, because they were part of mafia, _kill_ for him which was far harder. He didn't want to think about it but the words Mukuro had said earlier: _'You're going to be the death of me…'_ would very likely become true.

Tsuna yawned. He was tired but he couldn't sleep for some reason. Part of the reason might be the man pressed against his back and part of it might've just been the strangeness of this future. But… he couldn't not like this kind of future, he thought and smiled softly. A future where everyone he cared for was safe and where there was no immediate threat to them was nice. He couldn't bring himself to truly mind Mukuro's open show of affection either if only because he'd been lonely so long that he knew to appreciate it. It was weird to be held by someone that wasn't his mother but it was also comfortable so he didn't move though he was mostly certain that his mist guardian was asleep.

The evening with Mukuro and Chrome had been surprisingly subdued and other than a few short kisses and a few cases of stray hands Mukuro had behaved himself. Tsuna had always found Chrome to be both puzzling and soothing and she still was.

But… something felt wrong. Tsuna had been feeling it more and more the more comfortable he felt with his guardians. He liked this future, he really did, but he knew that he shouldn't be experiencing it like this. He was a stranger here because he had not earned the adoration of his guardians and _he never might_. If he knew anything it was that the future was never certain and that he hadn't earned this one and, if worse came to worst, he never might. He loved this future and that was why he desperately wanted to go back to his own time. To make sure that this was the future that waited for him. Except maybe he would try to make changes to the arrangement between him and his guardians…

He hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep until he woke up bleary and disoriented. It took him longer than usual to answer all those questions that people are bombarded with when they wake up, such as 'Who am I?' 'Where am I?' and 'Who's this doing the thinking?'. Particularly hard one, this time, was the question where he was. He was still in the wrong time, he was sure, because he was still in Mukuro's bed, though the owner of said bed was long gone. He almost wished he hadn't gone because he didn't like being alone in this strange place. He got up and tugged at the hem of the too big shirt he was wearing (courtesy of Mukuro) and padded to the kitchen warily. There was no one there and he wondered if Chrome had gone somewhere, too. Though, hadn't Mukuro told her to watch over him while he was gone?

He wandered out of the kitchen in into the living room where he'd spent time the day before with Mukuro. They'd sat on the couch, or Mukuro had and Tsuna had sat on his lap, and watched TV. It'd all been in Italian, of course, so Tsuna hadn't understood a word. He was certain that the mist guardian hadn't been paying much attention to the programs and had been more intent on touching Tsuna, but he had concentrated when the news came on.

"Chrome-san?" he called quietly not certain he wanted an answer.

No one answered his call and he wondered what he should do. He couldn't leave the apartment without someone mostly because he knew that Reborn was right. He didn't know the country he was in and he knew that he wouldn't be safe if someone who had a grudge against the Vongola spotted him. In the end he decided to stay where he was and wait for someone to find him.

Surprisingly, not ten minutes later Chrome walked in and gave him a smile.

"Would you like something to eat, boss?" she asked pleasantly.

"Um… If it's not too much of a bother?" he answered hesitantly.

"It's not. Come to the kitchen with me?"

Tsuna nodded and followed his only female guardian to the kitchen where she busied herself with making them breakfast. The scene was surprisingly domestic for someone with a high position in one of the largest and most influential mafia family. He accepted the simple sandwich and a glass of juice from her and thanked her. After that the both of them sat at the table eating in silence. Tsuna wondered if he should say something but the silence wasn't uncomfortable so he didn't say anything. The last thing he wanted to do was learn more about this bizarre future so it'd be better if he avoided talking to anyone much.

"Um… Chrome-san," he said.

The woman looked at him expectantly. Tsuna felt his face heating up a little. She was quite beautiful even if she was missing one eye.

"If… if Hibari-san does come here I don't want you to get into any trouble with him," he said trying to sound like he knew what he was doing. He hoped Chrome understood that he didn't mean he considered her weaker than his cloud guardian. It was just that Hibari-san was a bit of a monster to put it mildly and didn't really hesitate no matter who his victim was.

She gave him a look he didn't recognize and then shook her head. "Even if Mukuro-sama hadn't requested it of me I still wouldn't let him to as he pleases merely because he is violent," she said and leaned over the table to pat his hair gently. "It's what you're going to think in the future as well. Maybe you already do think that."

Chrome was right. He did think that people shouldn't do what Hibari-san wanted just because he threatened them with violence but he acknowledged that he would have to enforce that opinion and that would require power that he was lacking without his gloves. In Hibari-san's world strength trumped everything and he wouldn't listen to anyone he considered inferior. Tsuna grimaced as he thought that maybe his future self had put his cloud guardian in his place and that was the reason why he seemed so obsessed with him. If he could just figure out when wanting to beat someone began to mean the same as wanting to… Tsuna couldn't finish the thought without blushing. It didn't help that he couldn't really imagine Hibari-san being gentle with anything. He groaned and let his head fall against the table with a soft thump. The last person he wanted to think about like _that_ was Hibari-san.

Why, oh why, wasn't Kyoko-chan in his future? But… At least he could be almost certain that she wasn't in danger because of his 'profession' so he supposed it wasn't entirely bad. And, if he was being absolutely and brutally honest with himself, even now it was really difficult to see him having any kind of future with her. He didn't need his hyper intuition to realize that and while it was slightly depressing it was also not surprising in the least. That didn't mean it wasn't a little painful. She'd once been the only reason he'd even bothered attending school and he'd fought to keep her safe.

"Am I… am I really going to be a good leader?" he asked even though he wasn't certain he wanted to know the answer.

Chrome looked at him with a serious expression on her face and Tsuna found it hard to not squirm. "Yes," she finally said. "If you weren't we wouldn't follow you."

Tsuna blinked. It was a good point. No matter how loyal his guardians were they wouldn't follow a bad leader. Hibari-san might only be in it for the fights and Gokudera-kun was near blind to his shortcomings and Yamamoto might've been a bit naïve but even they wouldn't follow someone who they couldn't respect. It was a relief even if Tsuna still didn't really want to take his place as the tenth leader of the Vongola family.

He finished eating and excused himself from the table to go clean himself up. He'd noticed the set of clothes Mukuro had probably left for him before he left and when he went to the bathroom there was a toothbrush that was still in its plastic packaging that was probably meant for him as well. The clothes were too big and he had to roll up the cuffs but he got the suspicion that they weren't Mukuro's clothes. If he really did have some sort of time share agreement with his guardians it wouldn't be too weird to expect Mukuro to have some of his clothes in his apartment. The thought made him blush.

When he exited the bathroom fully dressed in his too big clothes he saw Chrome cleaning up the dishes they'd used for breakfast and he was struck with how ordinary it seemed. How messed up was it that an ordinary scene like that seemed odd to him at this point?

"Um," he said feeling useless. "I'm sorry for ruining your plans for today."

Chrome sighed and turned to look at him. "You're not ruining anything for me, young boss," she said. "And you should learn to accept help more graciously," she added. "Like I learned to accept kindness from others." She smiled at him. "Don't you think it's rude to keep apologizing for something other people are willing to do for you? Shouldn't you be saying something else instead?"

Tsuna blinked and then answered her smile. "I suppose I have been rude," he said a bit sheepishly. "I'm supposed to say 'thank you', aren't I?"

"That's better," she said. "Is there something you wanted to do? I'm afraid there isn't much for you to do here. Mukuro-sama tends to keep you occupied whenever you're here."

He wished that people would stop referring to the part of this future that he really really wasn't looking forward to experiencing. "Do you have a similar agreement with the future me?" he asked.

"Yes," she said still smiling but didn't elaborate.

Tsuna didn't think it'd be anything like what he apparently had going with Mukuro but he was relieved anyway. Chrome deserved every bit as much attention from him as his other guardians and he was glad he thought so in the future as well.

In the end they settled for watching television since Tsuna couldn't really leave the apartment in his condition. This time Chrome was kind enough to translate bits and pieces for him and Tsuna could sometimes even understand a word here and there. He was still far from being able to understand let alone speak Italian but at least he was making progress. The morning passed by without incident and when Tsuna's stomach started to growl for lunch he offered to help Chrome even though he knew he wasn't that helpful in kitchen.

They were in the middle of eating when the thing that Tsuna had feared and had managed to nearly forget happened. Namely, the apartment door was kicked in with enough force to break it off its hinges so it fell on the floor.

Tsuna stared in the direction of the noise with wide eyes, uncaring of the slippery spaghetti that slipped from his fork and stained his borrowed shirt with Bolognese sauce. Chrome, on the other hand, hadn't wasted time being surprised and was standing up before the door hit the floor and she made it to the kitchen doorway just as Hibari-san did the same. It resulted in the two guardians glaring at each other. Tsuna's respect for Chrome reached new heights as the woman who was considerably shorter and slighter than Hibari-san didn't even flinch at the murderous intent Hibari-san projected.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Hibari-san's eyes moved from her to Tsuna who was still unable to do anything but stare at the two of them.

"I'm here to take the herbivore under my protection," he said.

He was holding his tonfa and Tsuna caught sight of the Vongola cloud ring on his finger which meant that they hadn't destroyed them in this future. He wasn't certain if that was a good thing or not.

"He's fine here," Chrome said keeping her stance in front of the monster that was Hibari Kyouya. "Your protection isn't needed."

Hibari-san's eyes narrowed as he turned them back towards her. "It is in my best interests to make sure the herbivore survives to become interesting," he said raising his tonfa threateningly. "I have no intention of leaving him here with the mist."

The amount of contempt in his words told Tsuna that his cloud and mist guardians weren't exactly on good terms yet.

"He's safest here," Chrome said keeping her calm.

"Are you implying that I am not competent enough to keep him safe?" Hibari-san questioned.

The Hibari-san from the future wasn't as volatile as his younger counterpart but he was still the kind of man you just wouldn't piss off for your own continued existence.

"No," Chrome said but she wasn't backing down. "I am saying that should something unexpected happen my illusions will protect him better than your tonfa."

"Nevertheless," Hibari said and dug into his pocket for a closed envelope. "How are you going to keep him hidden if you have a mission?"

Chrome took the letter but she didn't open it. "This is one of Reborn's games, isn't it," she said.

Hibari didn't answer and turned, instead, to look at Tsuna who'd just been staring at the two of them while they talked. "You're coming with me," he said.

Tsuna's eyes sought out Chrome and she looked at the letter in her hands and opened it. Whatever was written on the paper it didn't take her long to read it through and then she sighed and nodded.

"He'll have to explain this to Mukuro-sama," she said probably meaning Reborn if it really was the hitman's fault somehow. She turned to face Tsuna. "I am sorry but I cannot take care of you so I will give you in the hands of your cloud guardian."

Tsuna stood up feeling a bit self-conscious of his dirty too large shirt in front of Hibari-san.

"Thank you for taking care of me," he said bowing to the woman. "I'm sorry I'm so useless I can't even look after myself right now."

Hibari made a soft disapproving sound under his breath but Tsuna ignored it. He knew full well that Hibari only though he was 'interesting' while he was at full power. Without his gloves he wasn't that so maybe he really would be safe with Hibari. He couldn't help but worry about the reasons why Reborn was shuffling him from guardian to guardian, however. There was always the chance that the hitman really was doing this just for fun but somehow Tsuna doubted that. He wasn't certain if it was because of his hyper intuition or because he'd known Reborn for too long. Maybe a bit of both.

"Um… Could you try to persuade Mukuro to not come after me?" he asked. "Since it's not his day anymore, right?"

The smile Chrome gave him was a bit pitying, he thought. "I will see what I can do."

As he walked out behind Hibari-san he wished fervently that he'd be able to return back to his time soon but knew that it could never be so simple. After all, his life was never normal.

- End Chapter 1 -

End A/N: Kinda long chapter that (10 000+ words?). I'm floundering a bit with TYL!Hibari's character but since he's prolly going to be OOC either way… Oh well. I've recently come to adore the R27 pairing but I dunno if I'll have that here. What there will be definitely is 1827, 6927 (duh), 5927, 8027 (I really like this one) also maybe some others but we'll see. I do like my tuna sandwich within a variety of tastes.


	2. Play

A/N: Chapter the second. Still no idea where this is going, but it's going anyway as things tend to, well, go. I was kinda hoping the genre would be humour but I suppose that's not possible anymore. Also when I think about time travel my brain goes on loops and that's not good for humour, really. I'm thinking now that this will be a three parter but I'm not totally sure about that. Also noticed that this isn't really very 'active' fic and more on the introspective side. Meh-

Pairings: the ever so popular everyone/Tsuna (with some exceptions)  
Warnings: bad spelling/grammar, OOC, general oddness, Hibari  
Word count: 8 918  
Disclaimer: not mine

Summary: Stuck in the future again Tsuna wishes he'd only have to deal with murderous megalomaniacs. Now he just wishes that the people would stop telling him what his future is possibly going to be like. What is this 'Tsunayoshi-time' anyway?

**-Time and Time Again-**

**Chapter 2: Play**

Hibari hadn't come alone which both was and wasn't a surprise. It was somehow odd to think that Kusakabe-san would keep following Hibari for at least ten years. It was admirable loyalty, though, and Tsuna knew some of his own guardians were like that, too. Gokudera-kun would certainly try to follow him to hell and back if necessary and although Yamamoto wasn't as obvious with his declarations of loyalty he got the feeling he would be there alongside them.

There was a dark sleek car waiting for them just outside the building and there weren't any people around that he could see apart from the former disciplinary committee members. It was still fairly early in the day and from what he remembered the street had been busy last night when Mukuro had taken him there. He decided it was best not to dwell on things like that and not wonder if Hibari had somehow arranged the suspiciously empty street.

"Get in," Hibari said as Kusakabe-san held the back door open.

Tsuna climbed in without a word. He couldn't help feeling like he was some sort of package that was valuable, yes, but ultimately unimportant to the people who were forced to handle it. These people, in this future, were probably looking at him and seeing what he was going to become. It was not a good feeling even if Tsuna was relieved that he was going to become the sort of person who deserved those looks. In his own time he still wasn't convinced that this was what he wanted to become. No matter what his answer had been when the previous bosses of Vongola had tested him he didn't think he could live without dipping his hands into the same pool of dirt as the others. He was naïve, yes, but he wasn't _that_ stupid or blind.

He looked at his hands. Besides, he was already stained. Even if the sky flame was not the same as an ordinary flame Byakuran had burned nonetheless. No matter how evil and crazed and powerful he'd been at the end he'd still been mostly human. He hadn't processed the information then because he'd been angry and tired and filled to the brim with so many emotions and it had really been the only thing he could do but… When he'd returned back home and the shock of everything that had happened had finally got to him he had finally realized he had really killed someone. Could he really go back to pretending to be innocent after that?

"Reborn said you don't have your gloves with you," Hibari said and Tsuna flinched.

He hadn't really realized that the man had taken a seat beside him in the back and Kusakabe-san had taken the wheel.

"Um… Yeah… No." he managed to stutter. "This came as a bit of a surprise."

Hibari made the disapproving sound again and Tsuna flinched again. He couldn't even remember how many times Reborn had told him to never go anywhere without his mittens. The silence stretched on uncomfortably and Tsuna fidgeted with the hem of his shirt and tried to do something about the now dried reddish brown splotch on it.

"What did he tell you?" Hibari suddenly asked and even without looking up Tsuna knew he was being watched by narrow cold eyes.

"Mukuro?" Tsuna asked looking up.

"Yes."

"He, ah, he said something about, um, Tsunayoshi-time?" Tsuna said because that was the only major thing that he could remember Mukuro telling him about this future.

Hibari frowned in a way that made Tsuna lean away from him just a bit. He wondered why he was acting so afraid now when he had abandoned his fear of Hibari-san a long time ago. The fear had been replaced by a healthy dose of respect which meant he would still do everything in his power to stop from being on the man's bad side.

"It was his day yesterday," he said but it didn't feel like he was talking to Tsuna. "What did he do to you?" This question was definitely aimed at him and there was something sharp and deadly about the way he'd said it. Whether it was aimed at him or Mukuro, he didn't know.

"Nothi-," Tsuna started but squeaked into silence as Hibari leaned over him in a menacing way. "He kissed me," he blurted out under the pressure. "Nothing else! He just kissed me and said all kind of horrible things to mess with my head! Like how you-"

Tsuna clapped his hands over his mouth before he dug himself deeper. Though, from the look on Hibari's face, he was pretty damn close to bottom already.

"How I what?" Hibari practically growled and although he wasn't holding his tonfa at the moment Tsuna could see them in his head, or more likely speeding _towards_ his poor abused head.

Tsuna's eyes flickered desperately towards Kusakabe-san but he knew it was useless. His back was pressed against the car door and his body was twisted uncomfortably and the seatbelt was digging into his neck. He briefly wondered if he preferred being openly molested by Mukuro to this situation. At least then he only had to worry about losing his virginity and not his life. Not exactly the best trade-off since he was rather keen on keeping them both at the moment.

"He sort of implied that you… you…" he just couldn't finish the sentence. If he couldn't even say it in his own head how could he say it in front of Hibari-san? It was ridiculous. The mere idea was ridiculous and he couldn't understand why he'd let Mukuro plant it in his head anyway.

"Hm. The idiot just couldn't keep his mouth shut," Hibari said with an unreadable expression on his face.

"But wh-," Tsuna's words were cut short and his eyes went so wide in surprise he was half expecting them to fall out of his head.

Never in his life (well, before talking with older Mukuro) would he have imagined a scenario like this. He stared at Hibari-san's face that was far _far_ too close to his own and wondered if he was hallucinating or something. It couldn't be a dream because why would he dream of something like this? He heard someone make a panicked noise and realized that it was him. Hibari didn't care and continued what could only be called _devouring_ his mouth. Tsuna was quickly becoming lightheaded as he was finding it difficult to breathe and his hands were uselessly pushing the older and bigger man away from him. When he really thought he was going to run out of air Hibari finally pulled back.

Tsuna looked into cold blue eyes and he knew there were unshed tears in the corner of his own eyes. It was an entirely different thing to be attacked with the intent to take his life and be attacked with the intent of…. He didn't know and he didn't want to know, really. He was only fifteen and stuck in a world where everyone else had ten years of experience on him. Hibari didn't seem to be too concerned over his confusion and grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it down. Tsuna couldn't even begin to guess why but then he remembered the mark Mukuro had left on his neck. He saw Hibari look at it with narrowed eyes.

"Sto-," Tsuna didn't have time to finish even the short word before a flare of pain shot through him.

Who would've thought that Hibari-san would actually _bite_ someone one day? Even if it wasn't to the death… yet. When Hibari pulled back again Tsuna was half surprised and relieved that his skin wasn't broken. He'd once heard on TV that human bites were full of nasty bacteria and the last thing he wanted was an infection.

"You are my prey," Hibari said voice calm but dark eyes sharp and deadly. "In the past and the future. No one should be allowed to catch you but me."

Shaken and confused Tsuna slumped back against the car door and stared at his aloof cloud guardian with wide eyes. He was getting the suspicious feeling that maybe Hibari considered Tsuna as his instead of the other way around despite the whole guardian thing. Briefly Tsuna wondered if all his predecessors had had as much trouble with their cloud guardians or if he was just that lucky.

xxx

Hibari's place in Italy (Tsuna still didn't know which city they were in) was decidedly western on the outside but the inside of the house was another matter entirely. Someone had seen a lot of effort to make the interior as traditionally Japanese as possible and Tsuna was reminded of the room that the Hibari in the other future habited in the underground base. That base had, however, been in Japan and therefore easier to make. He was mildly impressed. He was led through the house until he was shoved into a bathroom.

"There are clean clothes for you," Hibari said before turning around and leaving him standing alone there trying to recover from everything that had happened.

He sighed and considered just changing his clothes since he'd taken a shower that morning already but he got the feeling he was supposed to take a bath as well. Besides, taking more time in the bath would mean spending less time with this new and even more unpredictable Hibari. His brain still hadn't processed the fact that he'd been quite thoroughly kissed by the man. Mukuro was far more easily accepted since the man managed to exclude an air of pervertedness without even trying but Hibari was an entirely different matter altogether.

As he sunk into the warm water he wondered why his father had chosen lunatics and perverts and psychopaths as his guardians. They were strong, _ridiculously_ strong, there was no denying that but they also came with severe character defects that couldn't just be swept under the rug. Young Hibari was a borderline psychopath, though, happily his older self seemed a bit more balanced and he was able to care about things like Namimori and that bird he'd picked up. Mukuro was… unhinged and dangerous and Tsuna still wasn't entirely certain he really was on their side. Maybe he was more like Hibari and considered them to be on his side when it suited him. Both seemed to be in the nasty habit of thinking of Tsuna as their property. From what he'd seen of Gokudera-kun he couldn't really say if he'd changed at all or if he was still the same as ever.

He was shaken out of his thoughts as the cell phone that he had forgot he even had started to ring in the pocket of his borrowed pants. He reached out over the rim of the tub and searched around until he found the thing and looked at the screen to see if he recognized the caller. The screen read 'Yamamoto Takeshi' and he smiled. Even if the former baseball freak was a bit eccentric at times he was still one of the most sensible one of his friends. He'd already gotten himself far too tangled with the future versions of his guardians and he was burning with curiosity so he pressed the button that let him answer the call and pressed the device against his ear.

"Hello?" he said.

"Tsuna?" He recognized the voice since he'd been briefly acquainted with the future Yamamoto during his previous stint to the future.

"Yes," he answered with a small smile.

"I heard from Reborn what happened," Yamamoto said. "He said you should be with Hibari now."

So it had been a part of Reborn's game, Tsuna thought a bit bitterly. It didn't surprise him in the least but he did wonder what the hitman was trying to achieve with all this. Surely it couldn't all be just because he liked traumatizing his poor helpless student?

"Yeah," he said. "Since Mukuro and Chrome-san are both on a mission."

There was a moment of silence and Tsuna wondered if something had happened.

"Oh, that's good to hear," Yamamoto said suddenly sounding cheerful as usual. There was another pause. "I guess Mukuro said something that might've surprised you a little."

Tsuna felt his heart sink. Not this again. Couldn't he even enjoy a bath in peace without someone bringing up _that_?

"Mukuro always says weird stuff," he said with forced cheer. "Anyway. I'm fine and I'm glad to hear you're too but I really need to finish my bath so bye!"

He ended the call feeling a bit guilty for ending it so rudely but not too much. He tossed the cell phone on top of his clothes and submerged himself entirely in the warm water. His thoughts were in a jumble and his emotions were taking a rollercoaster ride. He'd never even considered being with more than one person in his entire life. He couldn't remember when he'd started crushing on Kyoko-chan but he'd been so certain that she was the one he'd want to spend the rest of his life with.

And here he was, in the future ten years before his time and finding out that he was sleeping around with at least four people and all of them very definitely male. It was a cruel joke. And, the worst of it was, that he was slowly growing used to the thought. He hadn't minded Mukuro's kisses nearly as much as he should if he was truly and adamantly straight. He was still upset that he'd been kissed but mainly it was because he'd been kissed without permission.

Another thing that bothered him was that he could sort of see the logic behind the arrangement he seemed to have with his guardians. As he'd thought earlier, they were destructive and they didn't get along well even on the best of days. If four of them really were somehow drawn to him sexually (he felt his face heat up at the mere thought) then he really couldn't see them stepping down easily for a perceived rival. Gokudera-kun wouldn't let anyone he considered inferior touch his precious tenth. Hibari wouldn't let others take his 'interesting prey'. Mukuro was just freakishly possessive. Yamamoto… well he was a bit of a mystery, really, but Tsuna supposed that the future him had felt that it would be unfair to leave the only sane one out of the arrangement just because the rest of them were kind of insane. But, he thought glumly, was he truly the best person to debate the sanity of other people? After all, he was the one supposedly leading the bunch of maniacs and professional hitmen quite effectively.

He sighed and decided that he'd spent enough time floating in the water and finished washing up. He'd just stepped out of the tub when the bathroom door was pulled open almost violently and he saw Hibari standing there. He grasped for a towel to cover his nudity but the older man didn't seem fazed by it.

"You were taking too long," he said.

Tsuna got the impression that his cloud guardian had thought he'd managed to do something stupid like drown or faint or something. It was always nice to know that his guardians thought him a capable and reliable person.

"I was just getting out," he said hoping that it would be enough to make Hibari-san leave him alone to dress himself.

Luckily, it was and he was left alone in the bathroom. The clothes Hibari had provided him with were suspiciously new and fitting. The newness was understandable since Hibari had had warning that he was in his younger form but he didn't know how or why the man had known exactly what size fit him at this age. He liked to imagine that he was going to have his growth spurt soon since he was around the right age. The one thing he'd been dying to know was just exactly how tall he was going to get but didn't really dare to ask for fear of disappointment.

"Come," Hibari-san said the moment he stepped outside the bathroom.

He knew better than to protest and followed after the man. He wondered if all of his guardians had their own places in this city and if the Vongola headquarters were here, too. There had been that building where Mukuro had taken him first so it was possible, he thought. Was there still a need to build the complex underground shelter beneath Namimori, he wondered. He was surprised to find out that the house had a basement as he followed Hibari-san down a set of stairs.

Someone had really gone all out building this place, he decided as he took in the vast space that probably shouldn't have been there. He couldn't really imagine Hibari-san getting legal building permits for a place like this. But, then again, Hibari-san was Hibari-san so anything was possible. It wasn't difficult to guess what use Hibari-san would have for a large space that contained nothing. Maybe that was the reason why he had a house while Mukuro seemed content with an apartment.

"Here."

Tsuna looked at the items that had been dropped onto his hands. It was a pair of gloves that resembled his x-gloves.

"They're not as good as the original," Hibari said inspecting a cloud box. "But they're good enough for training.

Tsuna sighed and pulled the gloves on. He supposed it wouldn't hurt (figuratively) to do this.

xxx

Tsuna stared at the ceiling and tried to count all the places on his body that hurt. It was surprisingly easy since he could count his entire body as one. The spar had been a bit less explosive than what both of them were capable of. Tsuna couldn't use the x-burner because he doubted the house could take it and the replacement gloves probably couldn't handle the output either. They hadn't used boxes either since they tended to be rather destructive as well.

Tsuna had lost the fight, which came as no real surprise, but he thought he'd put up quite a good fight considering. He might've been able to win against Hibari if he could use his abilities to their full extent but he wasn't certain of that. This Hibari would be used to fighting with his Vongola ring and Vongola box and he probably had loads of experience fighting a ten year older Tsuna.

A shadow fell over him and he looked at Hibari's passive face and smiled tiredly. This was normal, he thought feeling tired and spent. Exerting his body until it could barely move. This was normal. And just how messed up was it that this was normal? Only a few years ago he never would've imagined he'd be doing something like this and _surviving_ and being really rather decent at it. He didn't want to be a good fighter, he really didn't, but he'd rather be that than let those closest to him suffer.

"You need to get better," Hibari said and then reached down to grab his shirtfront to haul him up like he was weightless. Considering his monstrous strength and Tsuna's rather compact frame…

Tsuna chose not to say that he still wasn't sure he wanted to become the tenth boss. But, his resolve to go back to a truly normal life was already wavering and his resistance was crumbling. There were so many people who depended on him to become the kind of person that this future showed he was. He had already pulled so many otherwise ordinary people into this world so how could he reject them after all that. It didn't matter that he hadn't been the one to pull someone like Yamamoto into the world of mafia because in the end, he was still responsible for making sure he stayed safe. The same went for each and every one of his guardians and other people who'd gotten pulled in by mere happenstance. Hell, he'd fight to keep even Hibari-san safe even if the man would hate him for it and probably wouldn't need his help anyway.

"I suppose so," he said and smiled.

His answer didn't seem to please Hibari since his brows furrowed into a frown.

"You need to get better," he repeated and before Tsuna could move he leaned down and kissed him again.

At that point he was getting rather used to being kissed but it still annoyed him that his permission didn't seem to count for anything. Not that Hibari-san was the kind of person who bothered with such a thing as permission when he knew he could take freely without consequences. Hibari pulled out of the kiss and gave him a look Tsuna couldn't read even with his hyper intuition and turned around leaving Tsuna to stand on his own. He sighed and followed after the man again.

He was once again led to the bathroom and told to clean up. There was a new set of clothes waiting for him which was nice since he had managed to burn his sleeves with his flames. This time he merely showered quickly and redressed. A look at the clock on his cell phone told him it was quite late and that their mock fight had taken longer than he'd thought. This time it was Kusakabe-san waiting for him outside to be led into a dining room where a table was laden with Japanese dishes. Hibari was already seated and eating and Tsuna took the other seat clearly meant for him.

It was a bit uncomfortable, Tsuna thought. When he'd last interacted with the future Hibari they'd only really associated when they were training or when he was explaining something. Eating a meal together was somehow far more awkward. The calmness that masked the murderous intent that Hibari had gained with age wasn't exactly comforting either.

"Um," he said unable to stand the silence anymore. "How… how exactly does the agreement work?"

Why was he asking about something he'd rather not know about? He wasn't sure. Maybe it was because it was better than the silence and because it had been niggling at the back of his mind. Maybe he could come up with a way to avoid landing himself in a similar situation in the future if he knew more? He still didn't think it was fair to other people if they had to share someone. And even if he wasn't the only one they slept with he couldn't imagine himself wanting to be with anyone who wouldn't stay true to him. He was a bit old fashioned he supposed, but that didn't change the fact that it was true.

"Badly," Hibari answered bluntly. "You guaranteed each of the trash a day of your time if there was time that wasn't taken by something more important. If a planned day is cancelled due to something they have no right to complain or get a compensation day. Everyone is free to pull out of the agreement at any point."

He could imagine it wouldn't work well. None of the people involved in this deal seemed like the type of people who'd share anything voluntarily with other people with maybe the exception of Yamamoto and Tsuna wasn't sure of him either. After all, the boy who'd only been interested in baseball had begun to 'play' the mafia game and when he had he had taken it seriously. Far more seriously than Tsuna himself had. And he hadn't abandoned Tsuna and the rest of the dysfunctional family even after it had claimed the life of his father.

"I see," he said poking at the rice with his chopsticks.

"You should only be my prey," Hibari said his eyes fixed on Tsuna's own. "There is no need for the other trash."

Tsuna didn't know what to say to that but he couldn't help but wonder how long the tense balance would last before they tore each other to pieces.

xxx

Despite being Japanese Tsuna had never been particularly fond of futons. It seemed that whenever he slept on one he woke up lying sideways on the mattress with the covers every which way and the pillow somewhere on the floor. He yawned and sat up scratching the back of his head. This was his third day in the future but it still hadn't been full 48-hours since he'd gotten here. It might not matter but Reborn had talked about two days and Tsuna got the feeling that it was important, somehow. It felt like a deadline but he didn't know for what. He wouldn't put it beyond Reborn to have arranged his coming to the future but for what reason? As far as he could see, there was no threat like Byakuran this time.

There was a rap on the door.

"Yes?" he said with a bit of hesitation.

This wasn't his house and he was a guest here.

Kusakabe-san opened the sliding door. "Kyou-san went out and Yamamoto-san is here to get you."

Once again he was passed from person to person. He was getting more and more certain that there was some purpose behind all this. He went through his morning routines as fast as he could and was then led to the front of the house where he was greeted by a smiling Yamamoto, who still had the scar on his chin. Apparently some things hadn't changed in this future. He wondered when he'd got it and how and if there was some way to prevent it from happening. It seemed like a minor thing but it was still a wound he'd rather prevent if at all possible.

"Hi," he said feeling unexpectedly shy.

He felt his face heating up a bit to his mortification. He shouldn't be surprised considering all the things he'd heard about his supposed relationships with his guardians. But it'd been somehow so easy to accept Mukuro and even Hibari, but Yamamoto was just so _open_.

"Hi," Yamamoto answered grinning.

The grin really was contagious, he thought as he walked closer to the tall man. When he was close enough a hand settled on top of his head and Yamamoto ruffled his hair.

"So you survived Hibari and Mukuro," he said.

Then he looked thoughtful for a moment before leaning down and Tsuna was tilting his head up knowing full well what to expect this time. Yamamoto's lips were dry and warm and the kiss was sweet. Unlike previous times it had happened Tsuna was well aware that should he push, Yamamoto would back away but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Besides, he thought as his eyes slipped closed, he was rather enjoying it.

"I figured that the others had already done as much," Yamamoto said as a sort of explanation after they separated. "You don't mind?"

"I do," Tsuna said. "I wish people would ask first."

Yamamoto laughed. "Yeah, sorry," he didn't sound particularly apologetic but Tsuna couldn't find it in his heart to be truly upset at him.

"But I don't really get it," he said feeling more comfortable talking about this mess with Yamamoto than the others. "Don't you think it's weird that so many of you are… well…"

"Gay?" Yamamoto finished helpfully without a hint of shame or embarrassment.

Tsuna nodded.

"How about I try to answer that question when we get back to the HQ?" he said. "Reborn said he's got something to say to you later and the place should be secure enough today."

Again, Tsuna got the feeling that something was coming to an end soon and he knew well enough to trust his instincts. He followed Yamamoto, who looked sharp and deadly in his neat black suit, to his car and took the front passenger seat. It was reminiscent of when he'd first come to this future and found himself in the car apparently waiting for Mukuro. Unlike with Mukuro, however, he didn't feel like he was under constant threat of molestation.

Since he had nothing much to do he dug his phone out again and flipped it open. He hadn't really looked at it apart from when it'd been ringing so he supposed now was a good time to do that. First he went through the contacts. There were many names he could recognize; everyone from his family was there along with everyone from his mafia family. There were a few names he was surprised to find there and many names he couldn't recognize at all. After going through the names he went to the message folder and started looking through the messages he'd received. Most were parts of conversation or answers to questions he didn't know and some were probably in some sort of code or something. Most of them were in Italian so there was little chance of him understanding them. Some were in English but he'd never had the best grades for that subject either so he passed them, too.

He didn't find anything interesting there so he found the photo folder instead. There weren't many pictures there and he hesitated. What if there pictures of him grown up? Did he really want to see what he looked like? No, he decided and snapped the phone shut. There were some things he wanted to learn by living instead of cheat like this. He noticed Yamamoto glance at him and smile. He got the feeling he'd passed some sort of test but he didn't know why.

"I wonder if my sudden disappearance caused a lot of problems," he said out loud.

If he really was a mafia boss that would mean he probably didn't have a lot of free time. Especially if Reborn was around to make sure he didn't slack off.

"Oh you don't have to worry about that too much," Yamamoto said directing his attention towards the traffic. "It's been rather quiet lately and as far as I know you didn't have anything big scheduled for the last two days anyway. In fact you probably arrived on the best possible moment."

Now _that_ didn't sound suspicious at all, Tsuna thought with rather more sarcasm than he'd thought himself capable of.

"That's… good then," he said.

Yamamoto made a sound that meant he agreed and they spent the rest of the ride in silence. They arrived at the house that Tsuna recognized from his first day there and Yamamoto led him through the building. It was still far too large and opulent and Tsuna wondered what the point of it was. Maybe it was for show? He could never imagine himself to develop a taste for something like this but he'd learned that a lot of the things about the mafia world were, quite frankly, ridiculous.

Finally, they reached some rooms that Yamamoto seemed to deem good enough and he was ushered to sit down on a plush couch while Yamamoto busied himself with preparing tea.

"Breakfast will be brought to us soon," the older man said offering Tsuna a cup of tea. "But I imagine you want an answer to your earlier question."

For a moment Tsuna couldn't remember what he'd asked but then he did remember and felt his cheeks heat up a bit. He didn't know why he'd asked such an invasive question, really. It was a good thing he'd asked Yamamoto instead of someone like Hibari-san, who would probably deny everything and then proceed to bite him to death. He flinched a little at that thought reminded of the bite he'd received in the car.

"I see you remember," Yamamoto said and there was a teasing edge to his voice.

"Yeah," Tsuna admitted. "But you don't have to answer. It was an insensitive question."

It was, but it still bothered him. He couldn't really remember any statistics but he was fairly certain it was highly unlikely for four of his seven guardians to be… well... gay to put it bluntly. That was over half and even more if you didn't count Chrome though she could be lesbian for all he knew. And he really rather not know, thankyouverymuch. As it was he knew far too much about his guardians' preferences.

"I can't honestly speak for the others but I have a few theories," Yamamoto said pulling him out of his rather gloomy thoughts. "Most of us thought Hibari was asexual, to be honest, before he… well… showed interest in you and then we figured it was only because he's so focused on strength and that's what turns him on. Since you're about the strongest person we know it's no wonder he chose to target you."

Tsuna could feel himself going pale. He didn't like the sound of that. Not at all. It sounded painful.

"As for Gokudera… well I don't really even have to speak about him, do I?"

Tsuna wasn't certain of that. Yes, it was true that Gokudera-kun was loyal in a way that went above and beyond social norms but that wouldn't automatically mean sexual attraction as well. It was entirely possible to revere a person without wanting to jump them. But apparently that wasn't the case with Gokudera-kun and who was he to question his storm guardian's preferences?

"Mukuro is Mukuro and we really thought he was only showing interest in you because he knew it'd mess with your head and annoy Hibari who'd already staked his claim by the time when Mukuro started to pursue you aggressively. But I don't think that's the case or you wouldn't have allowed it in the first place. Reborn was against it quite vehemently but you kept your ground and said it's really your decision to make and that you'd handle it," Yamamoto continued.

That was… surprising. He wouldn't put it past Mukuro to do it just for those reasons and maybe because it'd give him a good chance to possess his body but apparently he, himself, had seen something else there. And, to be honest, Tsuna at his current age had also seen something soft in Mukuro that hadn't been completely buried under trauma and self-defence and natural tendency to be a murderous psycho. He could see it in the way he treated Chrome and his two underlings. He wasn't one of the 'good guys', and never would be, but he wasn't wholly 'evil' either. And as for why he was after Tsuna, in particular… he had a few ideas but he didn't want to trust them.

"As for me," Yamamoto continued on without a shred of self-consciousness. "I think you're the best I can get."

Now _that_ left him speechless and blushing. Yamamoto's expression had turned serious now and his eyes were intense. "It has nothing to do with strength or you being the boss or anything trivial like that. It has to do with the boy I got to know in school who stopped me from doing something incredibly stupid even though we barely knew each other. It's because I've seen how much you care about others and how much you want to keep us safe. You're not a hero but you will still stand up for those who can't speak for themselves even if it means getting hurt in the process. But at the same time you value your own life as well. That is the kind of person I am gladly in love with."

Tsuna felt almost guilty because he didn't think he was that wonderful. He was a coward at heart and he really _really_ didn't want to be in charge of anyone else's life. He wasn't that strong and he only didn't want to see others hurt because he knew how much it could hurt. He selfishly wanted to keep his friends close because he didn't want to be lonely. He felt like no-good Tsuna was still there, beneath the hyper intuition and the flames and the newly gained strength. How had he managed to deceive so many people?

"I know you're probably having a hard time believing me but in time you'll realize how true it is," Yamamoto said with a smile. "But even if you think it's a lie it doesn't really matter because it's how I see things and I'm not going to change."

"I wasn't going to," Tsuna said but he still couldn't believe it. "But if you really think that doesn't the arrangement bother you?"

The older man frowned a little. "It does," he admitted. "But I can see the logic behind it."

Tsuna really couldn't.

"It's not as if we're being forced into anything," Yamamoto continued. "The terms are clearly laid out for all of us so there is no room for misunderstandings. It clearly isn't the ideal solution but in a world like ours it's the next best thing. Besides it provides Hibari a reason to come back every once in a while and keeps Mukuro somewhat in line and it ensures that there is always someone capable of protecting you there."

'_And what if I want to be alone?'_ Tsuna wondered but not out loud. But he knew even now that if he had a choice between being with someone constantly or being alone he would choose the former. It wasn't like he'd been desperately lonely before becoming friends with Gokudera-kun and then Yamamoto but he knew the difference now.

"I think… I think I need to think this over," Tsuna said slowly. "It's just so completely _weird_."

Yamamoto shrugged carelessly. "Most of the things in this world are," he said without concern. "I find it best to go with the flow."

And that was his rain guardian for him, he supposed. Despite the ludicrous things he'd said Tsuna had managed to remain mostly calm because it'd been Yamamoto telling those things to him. As much as he hated the fact that the once so blindingly earnest boy had been pulled into a dirty world like this he really couldn't imagine anyone more fitting of the position as his rain guardian. Just like the rest of his guardians, really.

Their breakfast was brought in and for a moment they forgot about the awkward conversation and Tsuna concentrated on eating. He was still a teenage boy which meant he could eat ridiculous amounts of food. They talked about trivial things that had nothing to do with their ten year time difference or the current state of the Vongola. It was during that conversation that Tsuna suddenly realized that since coming ten years into the future all he had heard about his future had something to do with those relationships. He filed it in his head and made a note to ask about it from Reborn when the hitman finally decided to tell him what was going on.

When they'd finished eating there was a knock on the door and Yamamoto didn't look surprised when it was Gokudera behind it. There was a frown on the bomber's face but he didn't look more hostile than usual when he looked at the swordsman. When his eyes landed on Tsuna he could see the familiar adoration there but it was a bit more subdued. He'd only had time to exchange a few words with the future Gokudera-kun before so he wasn't that familiar with him unlike with the future Yamamoto and Hibari or even Ryohei.

"Young tenth!" Gokudera said. "I was told to take you to see Reborn."

Yamamoto sighed but he was still smiling. "And here I thought I'd have a bit more time," he said bemused. "But I think I made my point quite clear and didn't need the time the other two did."

Tsuna didn't understand the remark but he knew it had something to do with him and maybe even the reason why he was stuck here and passed from guardian to guardian. It had not escaped his notice that the two days was drawing to a close and he was now in Gokudera-san's company who was the last of the four with whom he had the 'agreement'.

"Well we'd better go, then," he said. He turned around to face Yamamoto and bowed. "Thank you for your answers."

It was a bit formal but it felt only right. It had been a personal question and Yamamoto had answered with more honesty than Tsuna felt he could've in the same situation.

"Eh, it's no problem," Yamamoto said. "See you later."

The moment the door closed and he was standing in the hall alone with Gokudera-san he knew he was under sharp scrutiny. He wished he could somehow hide the probably very obvious hickey on his neck but knew he couldn't. It was meant to be seen.

"Did they do anything else?" Gokudera-san asked brows furrowing even more.

He didn't look happy but he wasn't reaching out for his weapons either so Tsuna was mildly optimistic he wouldn't have to do damage control. Though it was only expected that Gokudera-kun would've grown out of his impulsive behaviour by now. He couldn't expect people to stay unchanged for ten years.

"No," he answered. "Mukuro pretty much kept his hands to himself and I just had a mock fight with Hibari-san. That's all," he said even if it was only a half-truth.

Mukuro had hands that didn't so much as wander as set up camp in restricted areas and Hibari was in a class of his own. All Yamamoto had done was kiss him and tell him point blank that he loved him, which was far worse in a way.

"But they've all said unnecessary things," Gokudera grumbled still looking unhappy. "I'm your right hand man. There should be no need for the rest. They could never aspire to be worthy of your attention."

But they were 'worthy of his attention', Tsuna disagreed in his head. In fact he still wondered what he had done to gain their attention so thoroughly. All of his guardians were strong and reliable and pretty damn good looking to boot. They should have no problem finding someone amazing that they wouldn't have to share. He, one the other hand, was short and skinny and rather plain looking. His brown uncontrollable hair wasn't anything special and his equally brown and boring eyes looked ridiculously large for his face. For a boy he was almost humiliatingly lacking in masculinity but he still hoped that puberty and a growth spurt would take care of that (though considering his remarkable likeliness with Vongola Primo that hope was dying fast). Now that he was forced into physical exercises by Reborn maybe he'd even bulk up a little. A part of him told him that those were nice dreams but that they would ultimately remain just that. It was painfully obvious he took after his mother instead of his father. It wasn't that he'd been mistaken as a girl or anything but he was hardly the perfect example of a male specimen when compared to his guardians. Either way, he didn't consider himself to be much of a looker and surely that counted for something.

He considered asking Gokudera about his reasons but decided against it. In the end it would reveal nothing new and he was pretty well aware of the situation already so there was no need to stress himself with more useless information about this possible future. He wasn't quite certain how the futures changed but he knew they did so perhaps there was still something he could do when he got back to his own time to fix this mess so that everyone could be happy instead of merely content. The thought of a happy Hibari eluded his brain, however, and even if he could somehow imagine it happening it would probably involve a whole lot of blood. Some of it possibly Tsuna's.

The way the building was built confused Tsuna effectively enough that he didn't exactly know where they were but he did recognize the room where Mukuro had taken him that first night and thought it was probably the place where they were supposed to meet Reborn. Finally he would get some clarity to this whole thing… or so he hoped. With Reborn it was really difficult to predict anything.

"I will leave you here," Gokudera-san said. "But before I leave… May I?"

Now that someone had finally actually asked for permission it was kind of ironic that Tsuna couldn't actually say no. He expected to feel mostly pure resignation at this point but the kiss was pleasant and careful. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling for what it was and wondered how it would've felt like to kiss Kyoko-chan. And then he felt guilty for thinking about her while kissing Gokudera-san.

"Please remember that," Gokudera-san said when he'd pulled back.

Tsuna watched him leave and close the door leaving Tsuna alone in the room waiting for Reborn. He sat on the couch and stared dazed at nothing in particular. This really was far too much for his brain to accept in just two short days.

"So do you get it now?"

Reborn's voice snapped him out of the daze he'd been in and his eyes focused on the black clad hitman.

"Get what?" he asked stupidly.

It was the wrong thing to say, he could tell. He heard the distinctive click of the safety being switched off.

"Want to rethink your answer, idiot student?"Reborn asked.

"I get it I get it!" Tsuna said raising his hands in a show of surrender.

"And what do you get?" Reborn asked without lowering the gun that was aimed towards him.

It wasn't like Tsuna thought he was actually going to be shot (fatally anyway) but Reborn's sadistic streak ran a mile wide so… Avoiding punishment was easier said than done, however, since he wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to get. He knew it had something to do with him being passed around and molested and kissed but he didn't see what the point of it was. Was this a hint to give up on Kyoko-chan? If so, it had pretty much succeeded. Was the point that he should try to discourage his guardians from pursuing him? He didn't think it was. Was the point to make him see why he would have to make an arrangement like that in the future? Somehow he couldn't see why Reborn would want to spare him the trouble of figuring it out himself later.

"I get it that four of my guardians… like me?" he said uncertainly keeping his eyes on the gun.

Reborn sighed in a disappointed way that was all too familiar to Tsuna. He was used to people being disappointed in him.

"No good Tsuna," Reborn said. "I would have thought even someone like you would've seen the point of this exercise."

So it was something Reborn had orchestrated. He wasn't surprised in the least and he supposed now it was only a matter of him figuring out what the lesson he should've learned was and maybe he could go home.

"The point is," Reborn said slowly like he was speaking to someone hard of hearing, "that you should realize it's already too late."

Too late? For what?

"I am not going to explain it to you when it is something even you should realize," Reborn said. "You've already guessed parts of it so hurry up and connect the dots, stupid student. Accept it and become the tenth leader of Vongola."

So it had something to do with his doubts about officially accepting the position as the tenth. And somehow it tied into this agreement thing he had with his guardians in this future. He decided it could help if he went through what had happened with each guardian in the right order.

Firstly, Mukuro. It'd been Mukuro's Tsunayoshi-time when he'd appeared and the first thing Mukuro had done was take him to see Reborn to see if something was wrong. He'd been kissed and molested and then dragged off to Mukuro's personal apartment where he'd been molested some more and where he'd met Chrome. Apart from the unwanted kisses and molestation Mukuro hadn't really done anything that might be expected of him i.e. mess with his mind. He'd acted possessive and warned him about Hibari-san but apparently it had been for a good reason.

Hibari-san was Hibari-san. He'd acted normally enough even if he'd paid a bit more attention to Tsuna than normal. They'd fought and he'd, again, been kissed without permission and then he'd been given an even larger hickey on top of the one Mukuro had given him. Since he likened Mukuro and Hibari-san to wild beasts it had to be some sort of pissing contest between the two. 'This is mine. Do not touch.' But why? It shouldn't really matter to Hibari-san if he fought other people or not as long as he didn't actually die. In fact, fighting others would only make him stronger and make him more interesting to the bloodthirsty cloud guardian. So maybe it wasn't just about being a challenging prey.

Yamamoto… well there wasn't much that needed to say about Yamamoto, really. Not when the man had so clearly said what he thought about the agreement and Tsuna, himself. He felt his face heat up again at the thought. Despite the fact that Yamamoto had been quite clear in saying exactly what he meant Tsuna still found it hard to actually accept those words as the truth. But it would be unfair of him to deny those words and their meaning. Doing so would mean calling Yamamoto a liar and he didn't want to do that.

And then there was Gokudera-san. He'd defended his virtue when he'd turned up with Mukuro and so far he'd been the only one to ask for permission. He hadn't said it out loud like Yamamoto had, but there was no doubt that his case was similar enough.

He paused in his thoughts as a new idea entered his brain and showed everything out of its way.

"No way…" he said. "That's just… that's… I don't know what it is but it's impossible!"

He turned to look at Reborn who was looking at him with a blank expression on his face. "You are so slow," he said. "And what's this about impossible? Haven't you still learned to give up that useless attitude?"

"They're… but… No," Tsuna sputtered uselessly. "No no no no no. It's just really really not possible."

The gun was levelled towards him again but Tsuna didn't even flinch. A gun pointed at him was a minor problem when compared with the absolutely absurd thought that had just been planted in his head.

"Just spit it out and be done with it," Reborn said his finger on the trigger.

"They're in love with me," Tsuna said dazedly. "All four of them." He'd mostly only said it to get it out of his head for fear that it would explode from the sheer impossibility of it.

Reborn had managed to make the gun disappear somewhere and was now clapping slowly practically oozing sarcasm. "You finally got it, stupid Tsuna," he said.

"But that's," Tsuna floundered. "I mean Yamamoto and Gokudera-san I might just understand." Except not really. "But Mukuro and Hibari-san…"

"I still don't approve giving Mukuro that much power over you but I suppose you have to deal with your own problems," Reborn said as if it was nothing big or unexpected. "Those two would probably never say it out loud but it is painfully obvious. They might be beasts but I suppose even they would have to be capable of some feelings."

Tsuna wasn't really listening at that point since his brain had now fixated on Reborn's earlier words.

"When you said 'it's too late' what did you mean by that?" he asked.

It was like poking at a wound. You knew it was a bad idea but you did it anyway. Only less like poking and more like pouring salt and lemon juice all over it.

Reborn sighed again. "What do you think I mean, no good Tsuna?"

Since the thing he was supposed to get was that his guardians were (supposedly) in love with him then it had to have something to do with that. Something told him it was something that wasn't related to this time period, and had more to do with his own time ten years ago.

"_It has nothing to do with strength or you being the boss or anything trivial like that. It has to do with the boy I got to know in school who stopped me from doing something incredibly stupid even though we barely knew each other."_

Yamamoto had said that and it was a direct reference to what had happened so long ago in this time. At that point he still hadn't been even near accepting that he really was a part of the mafia world. If he could believe Yamamoto's words didn't that mean he'd…?

"It's too late for me to try to change it," he said slowly not looking at Reborn or at anything in particular. "Ten years ago. It's already too late."

"Good. You've been learning something at least," Reborn said with a hint of approval. "So you see. Those beasts you call your guardians are already so fixated on you it's impossible to make them give up. So accept your responsibilities and stop thinking you can go back to what you call normality. It's not possible."

Tsuna realized that this must've been Reborn's twisted attempt at accepting his part in the world and to show him that it wasn't all bad. If he didn't accept his position his guardians would follow him one way or other and without the power of Vongola he couldn't protect them. There really was no place left for him to run.

And… this was a good future, he had to admit however grudgingly. Everyone was alive and at least content if not happy. He didn't think there weren't dangers but at least their world wasn't crumbling like before. There might not be Kyoko-chan in this future in the way he'd always hoped but there were four people who did care for him in their own way and even more people who cared as well even if they didn't take it to such extremes. It really was a _good_ future. (Though any future without Byakuran in it would be pretty decent, he thought.)

"I suppose you can go back now that I've gotten the point across," Reborn said carelessly not even pretending like it had been some sort of accident that Tsuna got there in the first place. "You'd better work hard for this future and stop whining." Reborn paused and looked thoughtful for a moment. "But don't think this is a permission to take in just anyone. We're not running a shelter for the homeless and destitute."

- End Chapter 2 –

End A/N: I… don't really know what I was going for with this fic, I really don't. I guess basically it's just an excuse to write everyone/Tsuna? My brain just refuses to let me write it without trying to justify how it'd really work. Sorry for the horrible OOC of everyone but there you go. Also late post is late. Had this chapter done when I posted the first chapter but I was lazy. 3rd chapt isn't done tho so it might take a while.


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